


Amaranthine

by four_flames



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Animated (2007)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Robot/Human Relationships, Romantic Fluff, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-11 10:35:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19107931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/four_flames/pseuds/four_flames
Summary: It started with a chance encounter, whether it was fate or blind luck remains to be seen. Either way, Apollo wasn't prepared for the sudden turn in events that would change his life so deliciously. There is much to be said between him and the Cybertronian ninja, and much that might be left unsaid. Neither is eager to face the consequences of their attraction for one another. But self-control can be hard at the best of times, and these two aren't making it easy for each other.





	Amaranthine

Apollo sat between two outcroppings of rocks, sitting there long enough that it feels like sand has crept into every uncomfortable crevice of his body. He fooled around with the setting on his camera, looking for an appropriate setting for the sudden overcast on an otherwise sunny day. He’d been looking for where red knots hang out. It was well out of their mating season, and they had come south slightly to coastal shores. It was hard to find them off the banks of Lake Erie, but they still came here. He’d been hoping to grab a few snaps of them when the sun would start to set, hoping to get a dramatic shot of them as the sky became a mass of warming oranges and violets. 

It was late afternoon, and he still had a long wait before he could hope for a good shot. This area was remote, and he was frankly lucky that he found it with the endangered birds present. He hadn’t seen a single soul since he got here. It was a nice change from the constant bustling of Detroit. Shifting his position, he pressed his back to a boulder and rested his head against the cool rock, content to sit in the bit of shade where he was sitting. He closed his eyes, listening to the waves and the birds calling out, minding their business. He breathed deeply and took in the quiet, imagining he could sit like this until the sun sank beyond the horizon.

Imagine his surprise when he was disturbed by a faint whistling as it grew higher in pitch and volume. Annoyed, Apollo cracked open a lid, gasping and shuffling backwards frantically as a jet barreled towards the earth. Apollo shielded his eyes as huge gusts of wind kicked up sand and debris off of the beach. Overhead of him, he heard the violent snapping of trees and quickly after felt the tremors of the jet colliding with the earth. After a moment he stood, dropping his camera and crept towards the aircraft's crash site. There was going to be someone, at least the pilot onboard. He had to see if there were survivors and help if it was possible, he couldn’t leave them in good conscious. To his surprise, the plane seemed to be in one piece, not mangled as he had imagined. The craft only appeared to take a few good, deep dents and some substantial damage to its paint job. That boded well. 

“Hey!” He called, running towards the craft and hoping to catch the pilot’s, anyone's attention to help them. “Anyone injured? Anyone here?” He dug his fingers into a seam of metal plating and used it to hoist himself up. He peeked into the cockpit, bewildered when there wasn’t a person inside? The craft creaked and seemed to growl at him. Apollo pulled back slightly, startled.

“Get away from me, you filthy organic.” It stated, lifting itself in a blur of rapidly shifting metal and electronics to become a towering metal giant, red eyes glaring at him. Apollo's breath left him as he froze beneath its glare. “Didn’t you hear me? Get!” The giant lifted its foot, and he realised it was going to kick him, certain the impact alone would kill him. Still, he was too stunned to move. Before the metal giant could swing his foot towards him, it let out a pained cry as short bolts of electricity fired into it’s back. Instead of punting him, the giant's foot stomped into the earth near Apollo, spraying him with loose dirt. The tremor caused him to fall onto his hands and knees, shaking him to his core. Apollo's gaze shifted to the newly formed treeline as a bright yellow robot emerged. The giant quickly shifted its attention from him to the other. 

“How about picking on someone your size, Starscream?” The yellow robot stated, grinning as the giant turned to face him. The metal giant roared and raised its arms, moving to aim the lasers forged on its arms. 

“You’re not exactly my size either Autobot, but I’ll settle for you!” The giant roared again, firing at the smaller one. The yellow robot, dodged to across the clearing, avoiding the blasts being shot as it zigged and zagged it’s way closer to the red-eyed one. Finally, Apollo ‘s body caught up with his mind, begging him to move. He pulled himself up and started to run before the small yellow robot collided with the one over twice its size. He heard the metal clash together violently behind him and the shrill cry of the purple and grey robot behind him. Apollo let a terrified noise escape past his lips as he saw the shadow of the giant race ahead of him. That thing was going to fall on him and crush him. Apollo tried to speed up, hoping to escape from under it before it inevitably flattened him. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes as he started to see the back of the giant around his periphery, too afraid to look. Apollo cried as he felt something wrap around his torso and lifted him off of his feet. His hands clasped around the foreign object, fingernails scratching against metal. Before he knew it, he was released and set gently on the ground. Apollo opened his eyes to stare up at a black and gold robot, eyeing him with what could be read as concern over its face. 

“Are you all right, human?” It asked somewhat gently in a smooth, metallic voice. Apollo realised he was gaping like an idiot; the robot was talking to him.

“Y-yeah.” He managed to get out breathlessly, still in shock. “How are you?” He wasn’t sure why he asked, but with all the fear and adrenaline kicked up to the max, surprised he was able to say anything at all. The robot looked taken aback for a second before it could respond it was interrupted by the yellow one.

“Could use a hand any time now, Prowl.” It blurted, dodging a fist from the purple giant as it collided with the earth where it had stood. The robot that saved you turned away from you, getting into an attack position pulling out a gold painted metal shuriken. 

“Run and get to safety human. I can not guarantee your safety if you linger here.” It stated finally, before rushing into battle. Shakily Apollo stood when he saw more of these robotic giants coming out of the woodworks he decided to heed the advice of the robot that saved him and get out of dodge. Apollo ran back the way he initially came, back onto the rocky beach. He ran as fast as he could, stopping short when the giant robot landed on it’s back in front of him with another robot, red and blue barreling after him. The young man quickly turned his direction, ducking his head and running past where he left his camera. With how this fight was going, it was sure to be crushed, and he couldn’t exactly afford to fork out the money to repair it. Or buy a new one as it would probably get smashed into tiny pieces. 

Apollo's breath hitched as he saw a red knot, one of the birds he’d been watching sitting by his camera, a sizable splinter of wood wedged into its wing. His heart ached, as much as he loved his camera, he didn’t want to leave the little thing there. It was already endangered as it was. There was certain to be a few of its’ kind dead already, this one may have been lucky to survive the crash, but it couldn’t get away from the robots if the fight came this way. He probably couldn’t do much for it as is, but he had to try. Apollo shed his wool insulated jacket and wrapped the bird in it as gently as he could. The bird feebly panicked as he picked it up, pecking at his fingers, Apollo let it, gritting his teeth in pain. He covered its head, hopeful of calming it down and ran with it pressed against its chest, mindful of the piece of wood as he ran. Maybe he could get his camera after this was over, maybe not. But holding the bird steady became his priority, and the bulky camera would only make it harder. 

Apollo broke into the trees again, towards his truck, he wasn’t sure if he could drive with the bird in his car but either way that was his best chance of getting out of there. He wrenched the door open and placed the somewhat complacent bird on the floor, still wrapped in his jacket as he closed it raced around to the driver’s side. Hastily he started the vehicle and sped off, getting as far away as he could. He’d parked his little pickup in the bush, following his tire tracks hastily back to the road. He peered into the rearview mirror, relieved to see just trees behind him. 

* * *

Now a few miles away, Apollo pulled his car over, trying to steady his breath and settle down. The air was silent, with only his breathing and some fuss from the red knot. “Now what do I do about you?” he muttered quietly, gazing down at the confused creature and seemingly trying to figure out where it was and how it should react. Luckily it wasn’t freaking out. Apollo sighed again, thinking. “Well, there is a wildlife rehab centre near here. You’re gonna need more than me to make sure you pull through.” He stated absentmindedly to the bird. 

Apollo started his pick up again, causing the bird to panic a little before settling down. He turned around and headed back. The centre was just down the road from where the fight had been. Likely the battle between those giant robots didn’t drift that far away, but Apollo couldn’t be sure. Hopefully, there was even a vet there right now. He soon passed where he had emerged from the bushes and pulled onto the road, focusing on what was in front of him. Oblivious of the manless motorbike and a yellow economy car pulling out and heading in the directions his tire tracks had initially gone. 

* * *

Apollo decided to stick around at the rehab centre to see if the bird would be okay, at least. Likely he wouldn’t see it again. So he stayed for his own peace of mind.

“Mr. Parsons?” A tall woman called, coming out from behind a door. She wore a lavender cardigan, light wash jeans and thick-rimmed black glasses. Her voice was quiet and awkward, and she didn’t seem too keen to make eye contact with him. She was holding his brown jacket, offering it to him. Graciously he took it.

“How is she?” He asked in a bit of a whisper. “She’s okay right?” standing from his seat and meeting the woman about eye level. 

She avoided his gaze but smiled. “Yes. The vet said all her wounds were fairly superficial. They’ll patch her up, and we'll keep an eye on her until she’s ready to leave.” She lifted his jacket a little higher, indicating for him to take it.

Graciously Apollo took it. “Glad to hear it. When I found her, I was worried she wouldn’t make it.” He admitted, rubbing his hand through his short, auburn hair. “Frankly I’m glad we both got out of that freaky giant robot fight.” The women’s eyes widened and finally met his gaze.

That’s what that was? We heard the crash and some explosions, we figured that’s what it was, but we weren’t sure.” She paused, granting him some concern. “I guess you were in the middle of all that, huh.” She made a gesture to his clothes. Apollo looked down, he was covered in dirt and sand. Sustaining a few small cuts and bruises. He looked back at the woman, her eyes were wide and full of wonder. She was looking at him like she was a real-life hero. 

Apollo shrugged, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. “Yeah, maybe just some bad luck on my part. Was kinda cool in between all the parts I was almost flattened.” He laughed gently, shifting in her suddenly intense stare. “Even though those uh robots took up residency in Detroit, never thought I’d end up in the middle of a fight like that. Especially way out here.” 

“That’s so cool! I’ve been following the Autobots on the news since they showed up a few months ago. I bet they’re even cooler in person.” She paused as her voice got a little louder and drifted her gaze again, quieting down. “I think you’re lucky. Not many people get close to the action like that and do a little hero work themselves.” Apollo guessed she was right. He made it out in one piece and did save a life. Whether or not he had gone for his camera, the red knot would have probably died if he had left it. It wouldn’t be able to fly with that piece of wood wedged into its’ wing. Oh, shit his camera! He completely forgot. He needed to go grab that before he headed home. 

Apollo wrapped up their interaction as quickly as he could. They waved goodbye to each other, as Apollo started to leave. He raced to his car, getting in hurriedly to collect his camera. Hopefully, it had made it through the chaos in one piece, and the robots had cleared out. The sun was sinking into the horizon, bathing the forested area in a dusty purple hue. 

* * *

Again, Apollo parked his pickup in the brush. He hopped out and started making his way back to the lake shore, picking his way through the foliage. The air was quiet, only the sound of returning wildlife filling it. That must have meant those robots, Autobots had left. That’s what they called themselves right? At least the girl at the rehab centre said so. Eventually, he reached the shoreline, near where he had been before he dragged himself into this weird as hell situation. The shore was in ruin, trees were turned over or smashed into splinters, large boulders that had stood here for who knows how long had crumbled and the beach was dishevelled, creating pools of lake water inland that hadn’t been here before. Scorch marks from blasters riddled the rocky shore. It was a mess. There were no signs of the Autobots, not a scrap of metal. Only the mess they had left behind.

Apollo sighed. Well, this place was beautiful, he only hoped the red knots that had been here before found a safe place to rest for the night. Well, the ones that got away safely. He spotted a fox leap up onto the trunk of a fallen pine, a bird clenched into its jaws. It was clear not all of them were as lucky as the one that he had rescued. Pushing away the bit of grief he had, Apollo went towards the rocks he had been sitting at. Surprisingly it was still in one piece, a pine had fallen over the rocks, but he could still reach where he sat. But his camera wasn’t there. The camera itself and its bag had vanished. “Oh, come on!” he growled, pounding his fist into the rock. Of course, his camera got lifted, that was just his luck. He turned towards the lake again, staring at the ripples of water dancing on the surface. Of course, he could replace the camera he decided. It might not be right away, but he could probably borrow some money for it. What really upset him was replacing the photos stored in there. There was no getting those back. 

* * *

Prowl and Bumblebee had just gotten back to base. They had both gone looking for the human that got caught up in the middle of their conflict with Starscream and disappeared before the Decepticon had taken off in his cowardice after a bad beating from the team of Autobots. They had managed to discover and follow the human's vehicle tracks onto a road but promptly lost them soon after. They seemed to get away alright, but it didn’t sit well with Prowl. They hadn’t been dented up too bad, but the human had almost been crushed under the Decepticon. It was only proper to see if they were well after something like that. After all, humans were fragile compared to Cybertronians. They could have sustained injuries he had not previously seen. It had been a bit of a disappointment to lose track of them, and Bumblebee only worsened his mood with his chattiness. Was it too much to ask for a quiet drive back?

“Well, it’s too bad we didn’t find that human that Starscream almost pancaked. Looks like he got out okay though. Don’t think it was necessary for you to make us look all over that forest for him.” Bumblebee stated with a bit of attitude, prodding his patience, short-sighted as always.

“It was necessary.” He stated pointedly. “That was likely a traumatic even for that human, I can't imagine its pleasant to be thrust into a deadly conflict between Autobots and a Decepticon. Especially when a certain ‘bot almost got him crushed in the first place.” Prowl crossed his servos, turning towards the smaller ‘bot.

Bumblebee frowned and puffed his chassis out defensively. “Well if it weren’t for me Starscream would’ve been scrapping human off of his stabiliser in the first place. It’s not my fault he just stood there.” 

“Well, it’s because of you Starscream almost had to scrape human off of his aft.” Prowl's tone became a bit sharper as Bumblebee continued to ignore how his recklessness could’ve harmed that human. He could see the yellow ‘bot hastily formulate a response. He never got to say it as they were interrupted.

“Hey, guys! Say cheese!” Sari chirped, appearing from around the corner. She caught their attention before flashing their optics with the camera as she took a surprise picture of the two. She took the camera away from her eyes and giggled at their photo on the electronic screen of the camera. “You two look like a couple of deer caught in headlights.”

Prowl remained quiet for a moment as Bumblebee had lost interest in their argument, going to Sari's side and ogling at the camera over her shoulder. It immediately became a game to him. “Sari take some pictures of me.” Bumblebee immediately started posing as they had seen humans do before. Sari was more than happy to start snapping pictures of him. The flash was slightly annoying to Prowl as it went off in rapid succession. Did Sari always have this device? Surely she would have used it more often by now, and this was the first time hed ever seen her use such a piece of technology.

“Sari, where did you get that camera?” He asked, lifting an optic ridge. She hesitated slightly, avoiding his gaze. Quiet as she thought up a response and not a very good one.

“I found it.” She stated simply, taking more pictures of Bee.

“Where did you find?” he asked, silently wishing the girl wouldn’t be so difficult when she knew she had done wrong. They both knew that camera wasn’t hers. 

“Oh, around.”

“Sari.”

Sari exhaled dramatically and glared at the warehouse floor. “Okay, I found it by the lake. It was just in between some rocks in the middle of nowhere; it’s not like anyone would miss it.”

“That camera must belong to that human. It would explain why he was out there. “ Prowl stated, glad to give some context to his encounter. The human probably would have returned for his camera at some point. Prowl guessed he would be disappointed to find it missing from where it had been left. “We should think about returning it, it’s not ours to keep.” 

Sari sighed, knowing that Prowl was right. But it had been fun while it lasted. She was just happy that she had some entertainment while Bumblebee and Prowl were out, Ratchet was busy doing repairs on Bulkhead and Optimus and kept shooing her away. 

“One problem here guys. We don’t know that human, how are we supposed to give him his camera back if we don’t know where to find them? If it even is his.” Bumblebee brought up a good point. 

“Well, it was with a bag. Maybe this guy left some contact information in there.” Sari stated, heading towards their TV area. On the concrete slab couch was a small black bag, with the flap open it showed a large empty spot for the camera and a few extra attachments inside. Prowl picked it up to examine it, the bag itself look well used. It must have been of significance to this human as he could see a few patch jobs done into the fabric of the bag. There was a bright, neon orange slip sticking out in a small side pocket that caught his attention. Carefully, he pulled it out and examined it. The writing was chicken scratch but still legible. 

“If found, please return to A. Parsons. There’s a phone number here. That’s a start.” He stated, passing the little slip to Sari. Sue took it and head over to their communications terminal. She let Prowl punch in what was needed, the dial tone ringing softly as the call worked at getting connected. For a second they thought no one would answer, but a small bit of shuffling happened over the speaker after the third dial tone. 

“Hello, this is Apollo.”

“Apollo? What like the Greek God?” Sari chuckled before being nudged by Prowl. He didn’t understand the reference or why the name was funny. But he wanted Sari to focus. He recognized the voice, it wasn’t as dishevelled as it earlier, but this was definitely the human he had saved. He felt a bit of relief wash over him to know he was alright. 

“I’m sorry, who is this?” Apollo asked he didn’t sound annoyed, just tired. Understandable considering the day he had. 

“Sari, Bumblebee and Prowl. We wanted to return your camera.” 

“My camera?” Apollos's voice seemed to brighten. “Oh man, I thought I lost that thing for good. You have no idea how much of a relief it is to hear that.” There was some shuffling on the other end of the line before he spoke again. 

“ Okay so, I live in Detroit. I know I uh, lost it near Lake Erie, but I can drive out and come get it this weekend.”

“Hey, no need we live in Detroit too.” Bumblebee cut in.

“Really? Huh, well, in that case, I can pick it up after my shift tomorrow. Anywhere you guys are comfortable meeting up?”

“How about in front of Sumdac Robotics?” Sari asked.

“Yeah, that’d work. I can be there at three if that’s fine.”

“Yep! Works on our end.” 

“Great! I’ll be waiting by the front entrance then. I’ll see you then!”

“Bye, Apollo.” Both Bee and Sari said in unison before Prowl ended the call. He was glad that this had gone over so smoothly. It was pure coincidence that he had a way to check up on him. It wasn’t long after that that Bumblebee took Sari home, deciding to leave the camera here for now. Prowl would bring it with him to their meeting. While it was clear this human, Apollo had been out in the woods taking photos, he had wondered of what exactly. There was a small urge inside him to snoop through the camera roll. He decided against it, looking would be an invasion of privacy, and that line had already been walked over with Sari taking photos of them all. The ‘bot put the camera back into its bag closed it up, bringing it to his room for safe keeping. 

Apollo hadn’t been spectacular or memorable as far as humans went, but Prowl had found himself looking forward to meeting Apollo in a low-risk situation. It must have been the fact that Apollo had asked if he was okay during the fight with Starscream. It had caught him off guard and definitely caught his attention. 

* * *

Apollo couldn’t hold in his outburst of joy as he audibly celebrated the kind souls that found his camera. Thrilled that the people who found his camera were nice enough to return it. It was a fairly pricey camera, they could’ve easily made a quick buck off of it. Apollo had always done his best to keep track of his device as best he could, knowing it would be expensive to replace. Although today had definitely been a unique exception. Regardless, he was more than excited to meet this Bumblebee and Prowl tomorrow. Odd names surely, but frankly who was he to judge? 

Yoghurt had bound up to him, the old St. Bernard wondering what had gotten her typically quiet human to bounce around the living room laughing giddily. Apollo brought Yoghurt into a hug as the dog barked at him, burying his face in her heavy coat. She panted happily with the attention, pressing against him and knocking the young man over. He laughed, landing on his backside. She was getting old, but she was still a bulldozer of a dog. 

“Okay girl, that’s enough. We gotta get to bed.” Apollo stated, gently giving her a shove to get her to move. Apollo stood and looked down, fondly at his little girl. He made kissy noises as he walked to his bedroom, prompting her to follow. The two of them went down the hall, passing the door to his roommate’s room, with any luck she was still out like a light. He shut off the lights in the living room with the sound of nails clicking against hardwood flooring directly behind him. Switching on the lights in his bedroom, Yoghurt pushed passed him and jumped on the bed, laying down on the side pressed to the wall, resting her head on her front paws basically asleep. Apollo smiled, fondly thinking of how the last time his parents came to visit, how much his mother scolded him for letting the dog sleep on his bed. He didn’t really agree that furniture was just for people. She did shed pretty badly, but she wasn’t a mucky pup. Plus he liked her being close, she was a cuddly dog and his best friend. She could sleep where she liked. 

He crawled in under the sheets after changing and flicking the lights back off. The auburn-haired man let his eyes flicker shut, exhaustion finally hitting him. It really had been a rough day for him. His body was still quite sore from today, he’d only just taken some painkillers for the night when he got that phone call. At least it had ended with him in one piece and with good news. He thought more over the people who had called him. He guessed the little girl’s voice was Bumblebee and the older boy’s voice Prowl. The name did sound slightly familiar to him, he just couldn’t think of where. His final thoughts became incoherent and faded as he finally drifted into sleep.

* * *

The sun spotted the streets of Detroit as a gentle breeze brought in a sparse blanket of overcast. Prowl was currently tuning Bumblebee out, frustrated with him as he had made them late with their meetup with Apollo and Sari. He had kept getting sidetracked at the base, keeping them from leaving. The two-wheeler would have left without him, but Bee was supposed to carry the camera. It would be safer inside of his alt-mode than his own. He only wished that Bulkhead hadn’t turned on their television to a racing channel as they were leaving. Again he felt his gears grind as Bee ran over a pothole, likely jostling the camera around. That probably didn’t do the camera any harm, but he was sure Apollo has gone through enough turmoil recently without the damage of his personal property. 

“So, what do you think this guy’s been taking pictures of? He was by the lake so maybe just the water or something.” The yellow transformer said idly, filling the quiet Prowl left. “Hey, do you think he’ll be so grateful for us returning his camera that he’ll take some pictures of us? I’d love some cool action shots. Oh, maybe he could get a few shots of us next time we fight some Decepticons.”

“We’re simply returning his camera. A good samaritan act that does not require anything in return.” Prowl stated, checking his internal clock that had been set to Detroit’s time. “If we can even get there before he leaves. Besides, I’m sure Apollo has had his fill of Decepticon fights.”

Bumblebee scoffed, his driver door briefly transforming back to his servo to place on his police light. “Keep up, and maybe we will.” His siren came on as the lights began flashing, causing the traffic to part to let them through. Bee zipped into the newly open lane, flying through traffic now. Prowl sighed, following suit. At this point, there was no arguing with him. Hopefully, Apollo was the patient type. Sari would already be upset with them for being late.

* * *

Leaving his shift early, Apollo did a little downtown shopping. Figuring he could show his gratitude for his camera. He had gone for a box of doughnuts at a café he frequented. The pastries there were delicious and would surely show his appreciation. 

Eventually, he got onto Sumdac Robotics property. Deciding the front entrance was an appropriate place to sit and wait. He set the box of doughnuts on the bench beside him, leaning back. He sat adjacent to the parking lot, a good place to see if Prowl and Bumblebee drove in. He didn’t know what they looked like, but he knew his camera back, and at the very least, he would recognize their voices. He was looking for a little girl and her older friend. Shouldn’t be too hard to spot.

Apollo went to check his phone, missing as a yellow car and black and gold motorcycle pulled in to parking spaces not too far from him. He didn’t pay much mind to the girl that came clamouring down from the entrance of the building upon the arrival of the two vehicles, running past him. It was a little after their designated meeting time, hed only just got there so the others should be arriving soon if they weren’t already here.

“It's about time you guys got here, I was wondering if either of you were going to show.” Sari chided, crossing her arms at the two. In their alt-modes, it was hard to read their body language.

“Apologies. Someone got a little sidetracked as we were leaving.” Prowl stated coolly. 

“Hey, I just wanted to know what the positions were, it didn’t take that long.” Bumblebee countered. “Besides, it doesn’t look like he's been waiting long.” Sari turned her head and saw the Auburn haired man, eyes down on his phone. Oblivious to the pair of eyes and two sets of optics coming to focus on him. 

“That’s him? From the lake?” Sari asked. She had been riding with Bulkhead and Apollo had already taken off by the time the large, green mech had even got there. Prowl hummed quietly to confirm. He was glad to see the human in satisfactory health. “Hey, Apollo!” Sari called, quickly grabbing the man's attention. He quickly put his phone away and walked over with a rectangular paper box in hand. 

“Hi,” Apollo greeted, smiling sweetly, “You must be Bumblebee then, right?” 

“That’s me, actually.” 

Apollo looked up at the yellow car behind the girl, glancing in the windshield, not seeing anyone inside. He was going to ask who spoke until the car appeared to mangle and crumple around noisily until a large yellow robot was kneeling in front of him, smiling cheekily. Apollo helped in surprise, throwing himself back a bit and clenching the doughnut box in hands, leaving dents. The girl and bot snickered at his reaction. Apollo felt himself flush with embarrassment, trying to settle his heart as he smiled sheepishly. He immediately recognized the yellow Autobot from the scuffle yesterday, at least this time with an alien robot transforming in front of him, it was a friendly face.

“My name is Sari, these two are Prowl and Bumblebee,” Sari stated. 

“Sari?” Apollo mumbled, briefly wondering how he had missed her name before it clicked. “Ooh, Sari Bumblebee and Prowl. Not sorry, Bumblebee and Prowl. Geez, I'm sorry, I didn’t realize that was your name.” The man scratched behind his right ear, embarrassed again. 

The girl smirked. “No worries, I think you made up for it by getting your pants scared off.” 

Apollo laughed timidly in response. Glancing at the bike Sari was pointing at. The colours it sported sparking some familiarity. When the bike had gone through the same transformation that familiarity came to fiery fruition. “Oh, it’s you!” He blurted. “Both of you, I didn’t think I’d get the chance to thank you properly for saving me. I uh, didn’t stick around too long to get a chance to.”

Prowl stood with his usual stoic indifferent impression. Servos crossed over his chassis. “It was for the best. That was definitely one of our messier encounters with the Decepticons.”

“We did try looking for you after to see if you were alright, but you pretty much vanished.” Bee stated.

“Huh. We must have just missed each other then. I actually doubled back after I calmed down. There was an injured bird near where I’d been sitting before that um, Decepticon crashed.” Apollo murmured. “I took her to a wildlife rehab centre to get her fixed up.”

“That’s quite commendable.” Prowl stated, breaking his silence. Apollo met his gaze, craning his neck to do so. Outwardly seeming more interested in what he had to say.

“Is that why you left your camera behind?” Sari asked. Apollo snapped back his attention to her, he’d forgotten about his camera. He figured that was fine, Bee and Prowl had been a bit of a shock. 

“Yeah, I didn’t think I could carry both and well, I didn’t really have a lot of time to try.” Apollo murmured. Bee handed the camera bag to Apollo who graciously took it. “Well I got these doughnuts for you guys, but it looks like Sari is the only one that can enjoy them. Sorry if they’re a little squished.” Sari squeaked a thank you, quickly digging in. Apollo stifled a laugh, happy that the girl was at least enjoying herself.

“Well, maybe you can treat us to some oil then.” Bee joked, eliciting a laugh from Apollo. 

“Maybe. Not sure if it’s fair that Sari gets all the reward.” 

Sari swallowed her bite, pointing her finger at Apollo cheekily. “Well you’re just lucky I found your camera in the first place. Could’ve ended up in worse condition than it is.” 

Was his camera in bad shape? He quickly took it out of its bag, examining the surface. It was definitely scuffed up, but it wasn’t dented or anything. Promptly he turned it on, besides a low battery, all of its functions seemed fine. He let out a sigh of relief. As he finished flipping through the settings, he noticed his camera roll was holding a bit more memory than he remembered it being. He opened it up, smiling seeing that someone had been busy taking pictures. The first he was a picture of Bumblebee and Prowl with a look of surprise on their faces. The rest of the photos were a few shots of the other Autobots and what looked like the interior of a manufacturing warehouse. 

Apollo laughed gently, these weren’t bad photos, and he could see they were taken with some thought. “I can see my camera was put to real good use while you were holding onto it.” 

Sari nodded, adopting a solemn expression. “Yeah. I was just playing around, I didn’t mean to take so many.” 

Apollo felt his heartstrings being tugged, unsure if he had said something to upset her or not. “Hey, no worries.” He stated. “You know, I could develop these if you like. So you can keep them, I mean. It’d be a shame not to show these off, they’re pretty good.” Apollo delighted when the young girl lit up. Suddenly beaming with energy.

“Really? Oh man, I can’t wait to show them to my dad and the guys!” Sari was beaming now. “When can I get them?”

Apollo hummed. “I could probably have them done tomorrow.” 

“Sweet!” Sari pumped her fists into the air. Her face lit up as she got an idea. “Oh, how about you take a picture of us? You can get a print of that too right?”

Apollo nodded. “yeah, of course. We'll have to hurry, though. Camera battery is about to die.” He glanced around, trying to decide where a good place for a photo would be. He decided on a photo in front of the fountain in front of Sumdac Robotics, ushering the mechs and girl over. Bumblebee and Sari had rushed over. Prowl was hesitant. Unsure if he wanted to participate or not. Apollo glanced at him, smiling at him invitingly. It was enough to compel him to saunter over. He came to stand beside Bee with Sari in between them. Bee picked her up so their faces would all be close together, allowing a better-framed picture. 

Rapid images were taken of the three, Apollo trying to get as many shots in as he could before the screen on his camera inevitably dimmed and fell to a faded black. “Well, I’m pretty sure I got a few good shots in there. But we’ll have to see tomorrow I guess.” Apollo began to pack up his camera as Sari was set down, wandering up to him. “Where did you want me to drop them off?” 

“We could meet at the park on the east side. The one with the art fixtures.” 

“A bit of a drive for me but sure I can make that work. Same time?”

Sari nodded and hummed in agreement. “Great! Argh, I can't wait to see those photos!” Her knees bent, and she hopped around a little, pumping her fists into the air. 

A laugh gently passed Apollo's lips, amused by Sari's enthusiasm. A small fragment of time had passed, but it was still more than he has intended on spending to get his camera. “I better get going, there are a few things I need to take care of,” Apollo stated. 

“Oh, well I guess we'll just see ya tomorrow.” Bumblebee said. Apollo nodded, giving a small wave goodbye.

“Yeah, I’ll catch you guys tomorrow. It was really cool meeting you.” He stated, stepping back a few times as the bots and girl and Apollo went their separate ways. As he approached a nearby bus stop, Apollo pulled out his phone and flicked through a few apps, smiling. It had been a pretty cool day.

**Author's Note:**

> Oof this took way longer than I wanted it to but here's the first chapter where like, nothing happens lol. I did some weirdly specific research on Detroit to make this work which includes that fuggin bird the red knot. I just am FLOORED that that is a name! 
> 
> Anyway, I hope the dialogue isn't too chunky it's been a long time since I've written anything like this. If I'm lucky quality will increase as I go deeper. 
> 
> Thanks to everyone who takes the time to read this!! It's greatly appreciated!!


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